 | The progress of refinement |  |
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RISE OF AMERICAN GLORY.
America, blessed region! once thy plains,
Whose bosom now is robed in cultered grace,
Were shrouded in a gloom, obscure and sad,
As when o'er wasteful wilds a forest dark
Casts a bewildering shade. Then ruder man
Uncivilized, and ravenous monsters howled,
Terrific, through thy drear abode, and woods,
Mountains, and rocks were vocal with wild noise
Loud-bellowing. But the general reign expired
Of savage horrour in thy wildered clime.
Whose bosom now is robed in cultered grace,
Were shrouded in a gloom, obscure and sad,
As when o'er wasteful wilds a forest dark
Casts a bewildering shade. Then ruder man
Uncivilized, and ravenous monsters howled,
Terrific, through thy drear abode, and woods,
Mountains, and rocks were vocal with wild noise
Loud-bellowing. But the general reign expired
Of savage horrour in thy wildered clime.
Our valiant sires embarked the ruffled main,
O'er mighty billows made their eager way,
Tempests outbraved, controled the shifting gales,
And hope, oft flattering, smiled upon success.
But, having landed on this western shore,
They changed the dangers of the threatening storm,
Not for the expected scenes of quiet life
Domestic; where might pratling infants prompt
The mingling glow of passion; where might reign
The endearing charms of friendship; but for scenes
Of keen anxiety, where husbands, wives,
And children fell obsequious to the shaft.
If haply rescued from the jaws of death,
Perpetual fear distressed the anxious mind
Disconsolate, and stole the wonted rest.
Sometimes, midnight, barbarian fierceness peeped
Into the window of some lonely cot,
With haggard looks, fire-flashing eyes, and mouth,
Wide-yawning, to devour the hapless pair.
An hour then seemed a tedious lingering day.
O'er mighty billows made their eager way,
Tempests outbraved, controled the shifting gales,
And hope, oft flattering, smiled upon success.
162
They changed the dangers of the threatening storm,
Not for the expected scenes of quiet life
Domestic; where might pratling infants prompt
The mingling glow of passion; where might reign
The endearing charms of friendship; but for scenes
Of keen anxiety, where husbands, wives,
And children fell obsequious to the shaft.
If haply rescued from the jaws of death,
Perpetual fear distressed the anxious mind
Disconsolate, and stole the wonted rest.
Sometimes, midnight, barbarian fierceness peeped
Into the window of some lonely cot,
With haggard looks, fire-flashing eyes, and mouth,
Wide-yawning, to devour the hapless pair.
An hour then seemed a tedious lingering day.
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Such was the fortune of humanity!
The sufferings such of our adventurous sires!
Hardships in many a ghastly form they braved;
Till heaven, propitious, smiled upon their toils,
And promised triumph, liberty, and fame.
Blessed science then, o'er these benighted shores
Had not diffused her influence; nor the hand
Of culture thrown its mollient richness round.
These fertile climes, where populous cities rise,
In domes superb of proud magnificence,
To please the finer taste, and for the use
Of freeborn and enlightened man, then lay
A desert waste, a solitary wild.
The sufferings such of our adventurous sires!
Hardships in many a ghastly form they braved;
Till heaven, propitious, smiled upon their toils,
And promised triumph, liberty, and fame.
Blessed science then, o'er these benighted shores
Had not diffused her influence; nor the hand
Of culture thrown its mollient richness round.
These fertile climes, where populous cities rise,
In domes superb of proud magnificence,
To please the finer taste, and for the use
Of freeborn and enlightened man, then lay
A desert waste, a solitary wild.
Now happier stars revolve! far happier years
Glide unmolested on; while science, peace,
And pleasure reign combined; save where, sublime,
Ohio rolls his deepening tide; and where
The wild tribes roam, in quest of innocence
And harmless prey, to sate their blood thirst jaws.
But, before many a season has elapsed,
Some happier genius shall assume the song,
And, joyous, thus, the auspicious era hail.
Glide unmolested on; while science, peace,
And pleasure reign combined; save where, sublime,
Ohio rolls his deepening tide; and where
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And harmless prey, to sate their blood thirst jaws.
But, before many a season has elapsed,
Some happier genius shall assume the song,
And, joyous, thus, the auspicious era hail.
No more of sufferings in thy blissful climes,
America, such as our sires endured!
No more of grim barbarians to molest
The lonely cottage; to arrest, with hand
Inhuman, the dear infant from the breast,
And the affrighted captive grind, in jaws
Voracious! Of unbounded woods, no more,
Awful and vast, to wrap in sable gloom,
The glistening fields; or to resound the roar
Horrific, of ensanguined beasts. No more
Of war's grim ensigns; nor of spacious plains,
Drowned in a crimson flood! Hail cherub peace!
The olive flourishes auspicious here,
Unrivalled, ne'er to wither on its stalk.
Of ages rude, when science slept obscure,
Of these no more! for here the graces reign;
Here through the expanding mind refinement steals,
And wins to harmony the jarring powers.
Society is happy, man is blessed.
America, such as our sires endured!
No more of grim barbarians to molest
The lonely cottage; to arrest, with hand
Inhuman, the dear infant from the breast,
And the affrighted captive grind, in jaws
Voracious! Of unbounded woods, no more,
Awful and vast, to wrap in sable gloom,
The glistening fields; or to resound the roar
Horrific, of ensanguined beasts. No more
Of war's grim ensigns; nor of spacious plains,
Drowned in a crimson flood! Hail cherub peace!
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Unrivalled, ne'er to wither on its stalk.
Of ages rude, when science slept obscure,
Of these no more! for here the graces reign;
Here through the expanding mind refinement steals,
And wins to harmony the jarring powers.
Society is happy, man is blessed.
| The progress of refinement | |